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Protesters dressed in cap and gown prepare to turn themselves in at the U.S.-Mexico border, trying to enter the United States, during a Dream Act protest in Tijuana, Mexico Photo: Reuters

In a better world, Washington would agree on legislation that would fix our broken immigration system and leave us with a workable structure for the 21st century.

That’s not happening, and we’ll get back to why in a minute. In the meantime, New York has an opportunity to fix one of the most perverse incentives of the failing status quo and help some high-school grads go to college.

It’s New York’s version of the DREAM Act, and it was passed by the Assembly last month. It would allow children brought here illegally to qualify for the state financial aid available to citizens and permanent residents, provided they’ve graduated from a New York state high school.

Critics say this rewards illegality. But the children didn’t choose to come here. Fact is, they are here and are graduating from our public schools. It serves no public purpose to cut them off from the opportunity of college.

Of course, we’d have preferred that Washington had solved this problem instead of dumping all the headaches of our dysfunctional system — education, drivers’ licenses, etc. — on the states. We note, too, that though a lazy press corps likes to blame the GOP for this, the truth is the last Republican president pushed the last big chance for a major immigration overhaul, while the current Democratic president did nothing when he had overwhelming majorities in the House and the Senate during his first two years in office.

Few New Yorkers would deny a child college aid on the grounds of his father’s crime. So even if you think these children’s parents were criminal for coming here without a visa, why do it to them?